4 ms·

Could you elaborate on what externalities and how they are not internalized? Am curious.

• mjhay 3y ago
  There's this thing called "climate change" that's been associated with fossil fuels. If these related externalities were internalized, Exxon would be bankrupted many, many, many times over.
  • dantheman 3y ago
    Why wouldn't the users of the product pay?
    • yarg 3y ago
      It's not just what happens when you burn it, they spill that shit with impunity. https://www.google.com/search?q=niger+delta+oil&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=niger+delta+oil&tbm=isch
    • voisin 3y ago
      Who (consumer or producers) ultimately shoulders the burden of a tax (in this case, a carbon tax to internalize the externalities I referred to) depends on the price elasticity of demand. If consumers are relatively price inelastic, then they'll shoulder the cost of the tax. If consumers are relatively price elastic (sensitive), then they (at the margins) switch to alternatives and then the producers ultimately pay via lower volumes and tighter profit margins. I think we are seeing what happens when oil increases significantly for a prolonged period - emergence of EVs, switch to heat pumps, etc. etc.
    • mjhay 3y ago
      Then Exxon would go bankrupt by the demand cratering to zero. It's the same result either way.